Chapter 10 #3
“Oh, he understood the people were starving,” Horus said. “I believe he didn’t see them as people. He spoke about the lower classes the way he’d talk about his livestock. They were worth what he could take from them, nothing more.”
“Holy hell,” I sighed.
“It’s hard to believe,” Serra murmured.
“No, it’s not,” Yori said in a sour tone. “It’s the norm, actually. Few monarchs actually care about the peasant class, in my experience.”
Serra’s eyes grew a bit shiny, but she held the tears in and touched Yori’s hand in a sympathetic gesture.
“So you decided to take action,” Carissa spoke up.
“I felt driven to act.” Horus nodded. “Without an heir, the threats on his life rapidly grew, and the crater of power that would have arisen after his death could have torn the country apart. Many nobles were eyeing the throne and salivating at the opportunity they saw before them. I chose to act before anyone else could.”
“Did the nobles contest your rise?” Tanell asked. “Were there threats on your head?”
“A few whispered notions,” Horus said. “But many of the nobles knew me already. I’d attended university with their sons and made an effort to ingratiate myself with many of them through the years.
Taking the throne hadn’t ever been my dream, but I’d known connections like that would benefit me, regardless of how my future went. ”
“Smart.” Carissa nodded with admiration. “Very smart.”
“Thank you, my lady,” Horus said with a smile.
“Then, the moment my coronation was complete, I set to work. I immediately began to dismantle the tax system that had eroded so much of the goodwill of the people. I reallocated funds to projects that would benefit the production of goods every person needs. I invested in repairing roads and bridges between our cities.”
“And the courtiers didn’t revolt?” Yori asked with a hint of skepticism.
“No!” Horus laughed. “They were a bit confused at first. Things changed very rapidly, and by the time they got their heads on straight again, the landowners directly below them were doing better. They complained less, and life became generally more pleasant for all the members of my kingdom. Things settled.”
“Hmmm,” Serra hummed thoughtfully.
“If life is better for the little guy,” I said, “the goodness trickles up.”
“I never thought of it like that,” Horus said. “But, yes, I suppose it does.”
We chatted for a bit longer and polished off every last bite of food my staff had prepared for us. After a while, Queen Laylia joined us.
She looked tired from managing the unloading of everything, but it was the kind of satisfied tired that came from putting effort into something with value. She obviously cared about her servants and helping them to work with efficiency and cooperation to make the work easier for everyone.
“They’re like the crew of a finely-captained ship, my darling,” Horus praised his wife. “And you are the captain who has trained them to be as such.”
“Thank you, my love,” Laylia murmured.
The King and Queen of Kestran headed back to their tent a short time later, and the women and I spent about an hour going over our notes and information with Master Palchur, Master Vannesh, and Master Gelm.
It was like cramming for a history final or something, and by the time we were finished, my brain felt very full.
My masters exited the tent to finish whatever individual preparations they had to make for the meeting, and the women and I sat around and didn’t do much at all for a bit.
Eventually, the sound of hundreds of marching feet reached me, and Anders walked up to the tent’s half-closed front panels.
“Your Majesty,” Anders said. “The King and Queen of Zall are arriving.”
“Great, thanks,” I said.
Anders nodded and ducked back out of the tent, and I turned to look at my three queens and Carissa.
“Everyone’s here,” I said as my nerves started to rise. “God, I hope this goes well.”
“I’m sure we’ll be able to get enough of them to see reason,” Serra said.
“Then the others will join as well,” Tanell agreed.
“I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t.” Yori frowned. “They have to see how Khorr threatens us all. Right?”
She looked around at each of us, but no one said anything.
“Are we going to greet King Manolito and Queen Lucita?” Tanell asked.
“Let’s go outside,” I said. “We can make ourselves available if they want to come over.”
“Good thinking,” Tanell said.
“Mmm,” Serra hummed in agreement. “They may want some time to freshen up after the journey. The meeting starts soon, so they haven’t left themselves much time.”
“I wonder if they ran into trouble on the road,” I said. “Prime Minister Hepper said that’s what happened to them in his note last night.”
“Do you think Khorr knows about this gathering?” Carissa’s green eyes flared with concern.
“I guess it’s possible,” I said. “There’s not really any way for us to know for sure, but I don’t think there’s much he could do about it, either.”
Tanell pursed her lips, but it looked like she agreed with me.
“Come on,” I said. “I want to have a look at the Zall monarchs.”
Yori looped her arm through mine, and Tanell took my other arm. Serra walked side by side with Carissa, and I wondered if it was to help the curly-haired woman feel included in my retinue.
Carissa had been placing herself at the back of the bus, so to speak, and I had to assume it was because she was determined not to overstep her position. I longed for her to feel assured that her opinion mattered to me, but it was obviously going to take some time.
I could understand that. Her father had controlled everything about her life and never valued her intelligence, cleverness, or insight unless he could find a way to weaponize it for himself.